Separable hinge and catch for container lid



uly 3, 1956 F. c. PLATSON 2,752,628

SERARABLE HINGE AND CATCH FOR CONTAINER LID Filed June 23, 1953 SEPARABLE HINGE AND CATCH FOR CQNTAiNER LED Francis C. Platson Be lll., assignor to Moi-ennier Bros. Co.,

Qhicago, 111., a corporation of Illinois Application June 23, 1953, Serial No. 363,445 Claims. (Cl. Io -143) The present invention relates to a novel hinge structure, and more particularly to a novel hinge structure adapted to connect a closure member to a container.

While it will become apparent that the novel hinge structure of the present invention will have a wide range of usage, it is particularly adapted for connecting closures to bulk containers for fluid food, such as milk. It is often desirable to provide bulk milk containers or tanks with rather large covers or closures which may be opened or even removed in order to provide easy access to the interior of the container for cleaning the container or for filling and emptying the container. When prior art hinge devices have been used with such fluid food containers, it has generally been necessary to provide a prop or some similar device to hold the closure in an open position and to use a wrench or some other tool to disassemble the hinges whenever the closure is to be removed. With such prior art devices, it is obvious that there is a danger that either the prop, the tool, or a part of the hinge will fall into and contaminate the interior of the container. In addition, the relatively complicated prior art hinge structures are often difiicult to clean, which is a highly undesirable characteristic for food containers. it is, therefore, an object of the present invention to provide a novel hinge structure which is of simple construction, Lhereby facilitating cleaning and permitting the closure to be connected to or removed from the container without any need for disassembling the hinge with tools or the like.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a novel hinge structure of the above described type which is self-locking to hold a closure in an open position without the aid of any auxiliary props or the like.

Another object or" the present invention is to provide a novel hinge structure of the above described type which permits a lateral shifting of the closure relative to the container when the closure is opened. This feature is particularly advantageous for fiuid food containers. In many instances, condensation will form on the inner surface of the closure, which condensation may run down and drop off of the closure when the closure is open. It is undesirable that such condensation drop back into the container, and the lateral shifting of the closure provided by the novel hinge structure of this invention directs any dropping condensation laterally of the closure opening.

Other objects and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the following description and the drawings, wherein:

Fig. l is a perspective view of a utilizing the novel hinge structure of Fig. 2 is an enlarged fragmentary taken along line 2-2 in Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is an enlarged fragmentary perspective view illustrating the novel hinge structure of this invention applied to the container shown in Fig. l; and

Figs. 4 through 6 are enlarge side views illustrating the operation of the novel hinge structure of this invention.

fluid food container this invention; cross sectional view i atented July 3, 1956 generally desig- The container 10 may be of 12 are hingedly connected to the top panel 14 by the novel hinge structure 16 of this invention.

The hinge 16 includes a strip-like member 18 which may be welded or otherwise secured to the top panel 14.

the strip member 13 are looped upwardly and doubled back, as at 29 and 22, respectively.

The hinge 16 also includes a plate member 24 which either pivotally to connect the closure to the container or lock the closure in an open position.

The operation of the above described hinge structure is illustrated best in Figs. 4 through 6. In Fig. 4, the is in the position it will assume when be noted that connect the closure with the container. raising the closure 12 in the usual manner, the plate member 24 assumes the position shown in Pig. 5 with the pin 28, which may be termed a locking pin, engaging the central body portion of the hinge member 18. If it is desired to hold the closure in such open position, it is merely necessary to slide the closure laterally until the locking pin 23 is confined within the looped end portion 22, as illustrated in Fig. 6. In this position, it will be seen that the closure is securely retained in its open the other hand, the length of the looped end portion 20 need not completely confine the pivot pin 26 since normally there is substantially no force tending to raise the pivot pin from the hinge member 18.

As shown best in Fig. 2, the container top panel 14 is the closure 12 is provided with an inverted V-shaped por- It will be appreciated that the junction 34 between the V-shaped portion and the remainder of the closure will normally be positioned above the container opening. in the event there is any condensation on the enables the closure to be moved laterally so as to position the junction 34 over the top panel 14-, whereby any condensation will drop onto the top panel. This lateral shifting takes place when the closure is moved as described above to the position shown in Fig. 6 for locking the closure in its raised position.

In some instances, it is desirable to remove the closure completely from the container, and it will be seen that with the novel hinge structure of this invention, such removal may be readily accomplished. In order to remove the closure, it is raised in the usual manner until the flange 30 of the top panel clears the closure and until the hinge plate member 24 assumes the position shown in Fig. 5. The closure is then moved slightly to the left, as viewed in Fig. 5 until the pivot pin 26 becomes disengaged from the short looped end portion 20 of the hinge member 18. When this occurs, the closure may be bodily lifted from the container. It is preferable that the lengths of the looped end portions 20 and 22 and the position of the pins 26 and 28 be such that the pin 26 may disengage from the looped end portion 20 before the pin 28 enters the looped end portion 22.

From the above description, it is seen that the present invention has provided a novel hinge structure which is of simple construction and which permits a closure to be readily connected with or removed from a container. In addition, it is seen that the novel hinge structure of this invention is self-locking to hold a closure in an open position and permits the closure to be moved laterally relative to the container thereby preventing contamination of the container.

While the present invention has been described with particular reference to its application for food containers, it is obvious that the novel hinge structure is capable of many uses and that many structural details may be changed without departing from the spirit and scope of the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A hinge device for a closure of a structure having an opening therein, comprising a hinge portion adapted to be fixed with said closure, a second hinge portion adapted to be fixed with said structure, one of said hinge portions including pivot pin means and locking pin means spaced apart a predetermined distance, and the other of said hinge portions including confining means for releasably confining said pivot pin means when the closure is in a closed position, and additional confining means engageable with said locking pin means when said closure is swung to an open position and shifted laterally with respect to an axis of said pivot pin means, whereby to hold said closure in said open position, said pivot pin means and said locking pin means being relatively ottset whereby one of said means is disposed outwardly of the confining means when the closure is in closed posi tion, and said first and second mentioned confining means being spaced so that upon said lateral shifting of the closure the pivot pin means disengages from its confined position by the associated confining means before said locking pin means engages its associated confining means.

2. A hinge device for a closure of a structure having an opening therein, comprising a closure hinge portion adapted to be fixed on said closure, a structure hinge portion adapted to be fixed on said structure, said closure hinge portion including pivot pin means and locking pin means spaced apart a predetermined distance, said structure hinge portion including a member having a surface extending transversely of an axis of and relatively slidably engageable with said pivot pin means with a looped portion at one end cooperable with said pivot pin means and another looped portion at the opposite end cooperable with said locking means, said pivot pin means and said locking pin means being relatively offset whereby the locking pin means is disposed outwardly of the structure hinge portion when the closure is in closed position, and said looped portions being spaced apart a distance greater than said predetermined so that upon opening of the closure with the pivot pin means cooperating with its associated looped portion and then lateral shifting of the closure the locking pin means is brought into cooperative relationship with its associated looped portion to hold the cover in the open position, said spaced apart looped portions also being so disposed as to permit the closure to be removed from the structure upon limited lateral shifting of the closure.

3. A hinge device for a food container having a top opening and a closure for said opening comprising a hinge member secured to said closure and including a pivot pin, a second hinge member mounted on said container and including a bearing portion having an open side for relatively pivotally and laterally shiftably engaging said pivot pin, a lock pin spaced a predetermined distance from said pivot pin and secured to said closure hinge member outwardly of said pivot pin for abutting said second hinge member when said closure is substantially open, said lock pin being offset outwardly of the pivot pin and second hinge member when the closure is in closed position, and said second hinge member including a lock portion spaced from said bearing portion for receiving said lock pin when said lock pin is shifted along said bearing portion directionally toward said lock portion and into engagement therewith thereby to secure said closure in said open position with said pivot pin withdrawn through the open side of said bearing portion, said lock portion releasing said closure portion when the locl: pin is shifted directionally away from the lock portion.

4. A device, as defined in claim 3, wherein said pivot pin is disposed adjacent an edge of the closure so that upon lateral shifting of the closure said edge is laterally offset from the container opening to prevent any undesirable material on the closure from slipping into the container.

5. A hinge device for a closure of a structure having an opening therein, comprising a first hinge member including an elongated body mountable on said structure, said body having opposite ends terminating in spaced apart reversely extending portions, a second member mountable on said closure and extending along said body and movable to and from opened and closed positions, a pivot pin secured to said second member and slidably and pivotally resting on said body within one of said reversely extending portions when said second member is in said closed position, and a locking pin secured to said second member olfset outwardly of said pivot pin and of said body when said second member is in said closed position for engaging said body and entering within the other of said reversely extending portions when said second member is moved to the opened position and shifted along the body directionally toward said other reversely extending portion.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 

